“Zofia saved lives in the covid hospital. The neighbors decided to get rid of her. They were afraid that it would bring a plague "

Mr. Andrzej was going down the stairs hard and as usual muttered his "good morning" as if just extracting his voice cost him too much. His face remained motionless, frozen in a grimace of eternal aversion to the whole world. He's always been like this, at least for the thirty years I moved in here. To think he was a prime-time guy then, and even quite handsome, and he was already acting like an old man. How I feel sorry for his wife, always smiling Mrs. Ali. He puts up with such an old man day after day, month after month, year after year. I couldn't stand it ...

- Neighbor, I want to ask you something!

Until I flinched. I didn't feel like talking to him.

"That nurse, you know, from the ground floor ..." He lowered his bass now and turned towards me to get closer, and I immediately, instinctively, stepped back.

- Yes? I asked reluctantly.

- Well, this woman - he said even more softly, forcing me to lean towards him dangerously - she heals those sick, you know, those with coronavirus.

- Ah yes? I didn't know, I muttered without interest.

- Well, how! After all, he works in an infectious diseases hospital, it has been known for a long time.

- Perhaps. And what about this?

- Therefore, it can infect all of us here. I had thought about it many times before, before the pandemic. That she endures all kinds of dirty things and puts her neighbors at risk. How can that be! Well, now… Now that's unacceptable.

"But Mr. Malak!" It never bothered anyone. On the contrary. As far as I know, she gave injections to many of us as needed. Or else she helped. She is a very helpful person, she never took any money from anyone.

- Maybe. But, you see, he went on almost in a whisper, the situation used to be different and now it is different. The world is changing before our eyes, what I am going to tell you, you know yourself. And we do not necessarily need such a person in the block. She touches the door handle, intercom, railing, wall, the light turns on the cage. Her children can meet other children ...

He did not want to enter into that whispered chat with his grandfather. That is why I was silent.

"... Those little jerks of hers will be spreading the crown all over the yard." And the estate. You will see.

- Ms. Zofia is an experienced nurse and we certainly hate nothing here, you will sooner bring something from the store than she does from the hospital - I said finally.

He looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Well, I don't think we'll get along," he muttered. - And you always looked like a quite sensible person to me. And my wife spoke so well of you.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," I muttered.

I've had enough. I dreamed of getting out of the type as soon as possible.

- In any case - he took the face of a man offended by the whole world - there is such a neighborhood initiative here, but you probably won't join it.

- Initiative? How does she relate to Mrs. Zofia?

"Well, we want to get her out of here."

They demanded that she move out

I had the impression that I was dreaming about it.

"Not forever, of course," continued the neighbor. - It's not all of us that we want her to sell, but she could move somewhere in this difficult period, right? I don't think there are any great demands that, in the face of a pandemic, someone who deals with the sick should stay in a hotel or maybe at a hospital have some rooms, I don't know. If she had to, she would manage, for sure.

"What does she have to mean?" I gasped.

- Well, this is the condition we intend to impose on her. Either he would leave or he would regret living here. And we are collecting signatures for the petition. But it seems to me that you are jerking a saint ...

- Yes. I'm not signing anything. In life. I don't even understand how you can come up with something like this. This is out of my mind.

"Because your head is too tight for this kind of thing," he grunted.

- Tight, you say? And it seems to me that those who came up with such an idea have tight heads. To harass people who help others, risking their own lives ...

"The problem is, they're also risking ours." But we do not agree to it! If you are not afraid, go to her, drink a cup of coffee with her, kiss her goodbye. We are afraid and we will not endanger ourselves!

He was screaming out loud now, and Jack's young wife leaned out of the door. And she said:

- The neighbor is absolutely right!

I think she overheard and heard our whole conversation, because she added indignantly in her voice:

- And don't let her defend her like that. It's easy to pretend to be noble when you don't have your old parents to care for, neither your children nor any family at all. At most, you will get sick yourself and at most will die if you want to, but some feel responsible for their relatives!

I felt that I was shaking, that I was about to burst into tears, that I wouldn't say a word more, so I just quit without turning my head and vigorously up the steps:

- I'm not going to discuss it. It is disgraceful what you say. Shame.

With trembling hands, I reached for my keys, but was unable to hit the keyhole. That's why I kept hearing the rest of their conversation, even though I tried not to listen at all.

- This one was always haughty. Great lady teacher!

How much contempt the wife of my former student had in that one word.

- Yeah, they consider themselves better than the smartest in the world. They feel that everyone must be instructed.

- A bida he squeaks, especially now retired, hi, hi. If you are so smart, show your wallet!

I slammed the door behind me and leaned against it, suddenly exhausted with agitation. Just take it easy, I thought. Keep calm.

Recently, I have had serious heart problems, I have to save myself, and certainly avoid nervousness. But just to say that about me ... I thought that people respected me, that as a former Polish teacher in high school I have some authority. After all, I live among the so-called intelligentsia. It probably obliges you to something? Are we so messy?

I got under control quickly. Well, at the moment it is not about me and what the neighbors are saying about me. It's about that nurse who's in hell anyway. Poor woman. It is enough for her to survive. You have to somehow solidize with it, and maybe just help if these people actually come up with their bizarre idea.

Certainly, more neighbors think like me, they need to be collected and mobilized to action. But what exactly can I do? I decided to talk to my neighbors. I started with my friend Eli.

- Elu, have you heard about this "neighborhood initiative"? - I asked.

- You mean the nurse case? - she knew immediately what was going on. - You know, it's rather unlikely that anything will happen here. The woman is exhausting her nose on the ground, refusing to talk to anyone.

- But what's there to talk about? - I did not understand.

- How about what? Just about it. That she would rent something for the duration of the pandemic.

- Elka, are you crazy? The nurse would "rent something" because we wanted so much ?! - I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

- It's probably not anyone's whim. Behind this are very serious people's concerns. You will admit that they are not unfounded, she spoke in a tone as if she were talking to a naive child.

This is supposed to be "after goodness"?

We said ice-cold farewells. I also tried talking to a few other neighbors. To my surprise, or rather horror, they all said more or less the same: "She could move out temporarily, I guess it's nothing like that."

- Listen - I turned to Janusz, a mathematician who still teaches in "my" school - it is not about whether she has a place to move out or not, whether it is a problem for her or not, although I think that it is big. It is about social solidarity. This woman fights for human life like a soldier in a war, I don't know ... I don't have enough words. We should support her, not harass her!

- Don't overdo it. After all, nothing bad is happening. You just have to politely ask her to move out. And that's it. Her hair will not fall off her head. Not a crown, heh, heh.

- Great joke, Janusz. Congratulations on your good humor, my voice was trembling.

I felt really powerless. I have always considered Janusz a decent man.

Two days later I came across Andrzej again in the cage. This time it was me who attacked:

"What's up, Mr. neighbor?" How's your "initiative"?

- Oh, yeah. We talked to this lady, but she wasn't so nice anymore, he muttered in reply.

"I hope she chased you," I said with satisfaction.

"I think there's only one lady on her side in this block." You won't do much. Eventually, she would have to leave anyway. We will try to do it.

What did they come up with? It bothered me. I decided to talk to Elka again. This time I'll be talking to her tricky, I decided. I will pretend to be convinced and find out what the neighbors are up to. It took me a while because she treated me distrustfully. She was offended and puffed up. In the end, however, she couldn't stand it, because she was a talkative creature by nature.

- After all, no one will hurt her, Janko. We are civilized, we will not beat her or attack her directly, and God forbid, the children. You can do something with white gloves. Let her know how much we don't want her here. How desperate we are ...

"Yes, that's the way it works," I murmured, "wearing white gloves is quite another."

I tried to hide the sarcasm. I did it.

"Exactly," she rejoiced. - She will surely be fine.

I knocked on Ms. Zofia several times, no one opened it. And yet I saw her car in the parking lot. She went to work for others, or maybe she just didn't want to talk to me? How could she know I wanted to help her? She must have felt good groomed.

Two days later I got word that someone had punctured all the tires on her car that night. The next night, the door to her apartment was covered with insults. I wanted to call the police. But what would it do? I couldn't pinpoint who of the neighbors did these acts. In a way - all of us. I couldn't get rid of the bitterness in my mouth for a long time.

She did indeed move out, apparently to her mother. The neighbors triumphed.

- Everyone can be persuaded. And it is actually goodness - said Mr. Andrzej. - And what the hell? We're finally safe. You'll admit it yourself, professor.

I did not answer. I stopped talking to my neighbors, stopped answering their "good morning". I'd like to get out of here on my own. But where to?

I saw her several days later, through the window. She slipped through, laden with boxes. Even from the height of two stories, you could see how scarred his face was. Tired, sad, stressed. And those stooped shoulders, she, always so simple. Poor. My heart squeezed.

I wanted to run away, hug her, hug her, cry out loud, ask for forgiveness. But what would it do? Would I help her with something? I didn't feel complicit about what had happened, but the shame burned me inside anyway. And it continues to burn me as I walk past her door, still unwashed. Recently, a banner "For Sale" appeared on the balcony of her apartment.

Also read: "My brother is a crap. I am a single mother and he made a fortune at my expense. I was fooled again, naive. ”“ I wanted my friend to make a life for herself, but not with my son. She caught him as a child and he is acting in love "" My sister told me to drive 600 km only because our 80-year-old father won the money and did not want to share it "